Nederland moved into position in round 1 of the District 21-5A golf tournament Monday at Eagle Pointe Golf Club to snap Port Neches-Groves’ string of nine consecutive district titles.

Paced by Brendan Marley’s 77, the Bulldogs opened a three-stroke lead over their Mid-County rivals headed into Wednesday’s final round at the Country Club of Texas in Beaumont. Marley, last year’s runner-up in district individual play, is two shots behind Henry Laduc of Barbers Hill in medalist competition.

Nederland’s other scores that counted toward the team total were a 78 by Jadon Bell, an 82 by Daniel Cormier and an 88 by Tyler Wallie.

PN-G Purple was led by a 79 from Dalton Shields. Defending district medalist Timothy Feemster carded an 83. Bryce Parsley with an 82 and Victor Aponte with an 84 rounded out the scores, which counted for PN-G.

Barbers Hill, with a 325, is the only school besides Nederland or PN-G with a shot at grabbing one of two team slots at regional. PN-G Purple, led by Braden Broussard’s 84, was fourth at 351 while Vidor stood fifth at 374.